Significant Others

Are you significant? That was the question posed by ethicist Michael Josephson, founder of the Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics, at the Orange County (California) Ethics in America awards dinner last June, where I'm proud to say Entrepreneur won an Ethics Award. Josephson asked the audience if we understood the difference between success and significance. Most of us yearn to be successful, thinking it will mark our place in this world. But is that what it's really about? Is it enough to be a success, or should we also strive for significance?

There are many paths to significance, and I can't tell you how to traverse yours. But one of the most rewarding ways to leave your mark is to reach out to the young. And one of the best ways to do that is through Students in Free Enterprise, more commonly known as SIFE, a nonprofit organization found on hundreds of college campuses across the United States and overseas. Its membership consists of top officers from some of the world's most successful corporations and a group of dedicated professors who give tirelessly to the most important SIFE component-the students. SIFE students compete by undertaking projects that help educate and inspire people in their communities, across the nation and around the world.